Introduction: Muybride's Zoetrope

"This instructable was created by Sydney Russell in fulfillment of the project requirement of the Makecourse at the University of South Florida (www.makecourse.com)". 3D Printing was done at the Advanced Visualization Center at the University of South Florida (www.avc.web.usf.edu).

Parts for this project:

3 Strips of Velcro

1 Green LED

1 10V Potentiometer

1 Arduino Uno

1 Breadboard

1 Relay

1 5V DC Motor

Phone app - Droid Light

Wires

2 9V Batteries

Wooden Dowels

Hollow Wood Cylinder

Epoxy & Hot Glue

Step 1: The Arduino Code

/*****************************************

PURPOSE: Muybridge's Zoetrope

CREATED BY: Sydney Russell

DATE: 4/20/2015

******************************************/

const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to

const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to

const int threshold = 50; // an arbitrary threshold level that's in the range of the analog input

void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output:

pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); }

void loop() { // read the value of the potentiometer:

int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin);

// if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED:

if (analogValue > threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); }

else { digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW); } }

Step 2: Design

The design circulated around the potentiometer and the relay. The potentiometer would be connected to the relay, which it would then have the ability to turn on and off the motor by connecting and disconnecting the circuit. The LED is just a checkpoint to make sure that all the wiring is correct and the potentiometer is working.

Once the circuit is completed the DC Motor turns on and runs in one single direction (if you want it to go the other direction, switch the wires you have connected for the positive and negative breadboard slots).

One 9-volt battery powers the arduino uno, and the other powers the motor. The motor has it's own power source because it drains the 9-volt batteries quickly.

Step 3: 3D Printed Parts and Other Parts

Each horse position I found here from a user on thingiverse.org:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:584516

The middle piece I designed in the program Inventor 2015. The zip file of the .stl is attached to this header.

For this course we were given a box with certain dimensions that we couldn't change. But we could change the surfaces on the box. I drilled a hole in the side so the handle of the potentiometer could fit, as well as the middle of the lid so the DC motor could fit. To secure the motor in place I glued a hollow wooden cylinder to the bottom of the lid and placed a strip of Velcro inside it. Then to secure the wires, I soldered the positive and negative wires to the dc motor.

Since the shaft on the motor was so small, I created a piece with a hole that could securely hold onto the shaft while it spun. The wooden cube from the art store I went too wasn't as flat as it looked, so I 3D printed a thicker bearing and glued it on top of the cube.

Step 4: Executing Electrical Design

Starting from the potentiometer, there are three wires that are attached to it. The red and the black wires are the power supply wires, and the orange is the analog. The analog is what sends the signal to the relay. The white wires are for the LED to make sure the signal is going through. And the yellow wires connect the relay signal to the dc motor to complete the circuit.

The second battery (the one not powering the arduino), is completely isolated from the circuit so it solely powers the motor.

Step 5: Assembly

The project is better seen in darker lighting and a fast strobe light flashing onto it. To create an easier setting to watch the horses run, I glued white construction paper to the inside of a small cardboard box, and black paper to the outside. Then I downloaded an app called Droid Light (I did not create this app) to my phone. You can indicate how fast you want the strobe light to flash based on a number of Hertz ranging from 1-10. I leaned the my phone against the side of the box that we were required to use. That's all for the box.

The horses were assembled with a lot of epoxy. They were printed in halves so to use less printing material. If you want to merge these halves and print them with more supports you can do that in Maya. But if not, a glue that dries flat is best for this. The then dowels came next. I drilled bigger holes on the inside of the horses and epoxied the dowels to them. Once those dried, the dowels are then epoxied to the holes in the middle piece that the motor drives.

Once finished, the pillar on the bottom is secured onto the shaft of the DC motor and the potentiometer is free to turn on and off.